Chapter II

"Stop- it!"

These were the only words Quest Lawless, the notorious Core Thief, could shout out.

It felt like he was going to fall to his knees-like he was losing his mind. His spiritual power was fluctuating, the stolen cores inside of him were in a rampage, bordering on uncontrollable. This was the most vulnerable he's felt in his life.

Quest couldn't think straight. He started seeing things he shouldn't be seeing yet his mind was going blank. All he could do was forcefully close his eyes and put his palms over his ears to try and block the sound.

Hallucinations, a mental block- weakness, Quest could only think of one thing-

Deviation.

Deviation, a word the cultivation world had always been familiar with and cultivators-

were afraid of it.

To deviate was to lose control of your spiritual power which at its root is your spiritual core. In turn you'd be unable to control yourself- you'll start seeing hallucinations that make your mental state worse, you'd start swinging your sword around, basically- slowly lose your mind as your own spiritual core backfires.

And that was what Quest was experiencing at that very moment. He kept asking himself- what is causing this? why is this happening right now?

Most of the time, deviations happen in stressful events. When cultivators push their spiritual cores to its limits or when a cultivator's spirituality is hindered, usually caused by extreme emotion such as agony or wrath.

But Quest Lawless was experiencing none of those, he merely took a few steps in after opening the doors to the quaint building then heard a- wait- that's it- Quest realized. it's the song!

-

After the thief had stepped into building despite clearly hearing Nevaeh, the young cultivator state that it was forbidden, it was quiet, for a moment.

But then, a sudden surge of sound reached Quest's eardrums, it was a familiar voice. It was that same angelic and serene voice that he had heard earlier from outside, but- it was different.

It felt different.

The Euphony had noticed Quest Lawless of course, the loud creaking sound of the door opening was enough to alarm anyone with an enchanced sense of hearing.

Quest's chest started feeling heavier and heavier as he continued along the narrow hallway, it was dark and quiet just like how it was outside, with only the Euphony's haunting song breaking the silence.

At the end of the short hallway was a lit room, it seemed that it was light emitting from a lone lantern. Quest was surely headed there, to satisfy his curiosity and to answer his question- who was behind the Euphony?

But before he could come close, he started feeling dizzy. He stopped in his steps instinctively grasping the hilt of his sword.

The rest was as followed, the Core Thief experiencing the frightening symptoms of deviation.

Quest Lawless had finally figured out that it was the song causing him to deviate, he knew from the start that the Euphony had somekind of way to connect with the spiritual core, but he never expected that the Euphony could force deviation with a mere song.

It was certainly a very powerful and dangerous weapon.

Who? Who could have this kind of power? Is it a demon? A cultivator?

Despite having trapped in the symptoms of deviation, Quest's mind still yearned for answers. Quest Lawless forced himself to walk down the hallway, it felt like he was dragging dead weight behind him- he could barely control his movements but he was determined to unmask the mysterious singer behind the Euphony.

He wanted to find out how this "Euphony" was able to, what it seemed like, "control" cores using only a song and a voice. More importantly, he needed to know if it was a friend or a foe.

Though it was highly unlikely that the Core Thief would ever get a companion, much less someone who was literally "attacking" him at the very moment.

Quest Lawless managed to drag himself into lamp-lit room, he had to stop whoever this Euphony was before he'd go berserk and completely deviate.

His vision was blurry, but he certainly could make out somekind of human figure sitting in the middle of the room. The thief immediately unsheathed his sword, and-

What if it's an innocent person?

Quest Lawless suddenly hesitated, he hated unnecessary bloodshed. But once he started to slowly put down his sword, the deviation got to him.

The song just wouldn't stop, the Euphony just kept singing- and singing, like a broken record that kept ringing in his ear.

At this point, Quest had no choice but to make his move before he'd totally lose himself over this insanity-driving song, it was a complete overturn to the calming and placid melody earlier.

Quest struggled to get his sword up once again, but he managed to do it. He focused all the spiritual power he could on the sword, as he was unable to walk any further. Quest settled on a blast of his sword instead of a direct attack, as long as the song would come to a halt.

"I said- stop it!" Quest repeated his words once again, this time with a matching blast from his sword. It wasn't nearly as strong as his attacks if he was in prime condition, but it surely would injure a normal person. The fire in the lamp flickered as Quest Lawless attacked, eventually extinguishing, leaving the room dark once again.

And with that, the Euphony stopped singing. Deafening silence fell around the surroundings. Quest let out a deep sigh of relief. He still was in a daze, for him to nearly fully deviate was a rare occurence, and he would never want it to happen again now that he knows how vulnerable he would be.

It took sometime, but Quest Lawless eventually composed himself, he used the blade of his sword as a light source. It was emitting a soft white glow, comparable to the moonlight.

He then walked towards the middle of the room. The closer he got, the more it reeked the smell of iron.

Blood. Quest bit his lower lip. It's blood.

Bloodshed once again, it this time he was the one that caused it. Another addition to his blood filled hands.

Quest felt guilty. When finally got to the middle of room he slowly knelt down, hoping that the wound he inflicted on whoever the Euphony was- wasn't severe. He didn't want this person to die at his hands, because he had more than a handful of questions, yes. But also because Quest looked down upon the idea of killing people unless it was absolutely necessary.

As Quest hovered his sword acting as a light over the Euphony, he wasn't expecting to be grabbed by his arm. He was caught off guard, but before he could do anything to react to the sudden movement of the person the Euphony was, everything faded into black like he was sucked into somekind of deep sleep.

-

Exhausted. Tormernted. In agony.

Quest Lawless woke up in a dimly lit room, torches were kept on the wall by metal brackets. It seemed like the place was underground, most of the sound from above was muffled, but you would faintly hear the sounds of blades criss-crossing.

Quest had a sinking feeling in his chest, he felt helpless, exhausted but restless. It was peculiar, it felt like he was feeling someone else's feelings.

The thief didn't know where he was or what happened after the events, all he knew that the Euphony was bleeding, touched him and he blacked out for no clear reason.

Quest was about to stand up to scan around the place and to try and figure exactly where he was.

Suddenly, the sound of rattling chains met him. Quest immediately realized that his ankles had been fettered, and his hands shackled together.

The chains weren't ordinary either, Quest felt demonic energy exuding from them which alarmed him.

Was the Euphony truly a demon?

Quest started pulling on the chains, in an attempt to break them off somehow. But instead, he was hurting himself. Quest was unusually weak but he knew that he wasn't this feeble-

Quest looked at his arms and finally noticed that he wasn't wearing his original clothes, instead it had a royalty-like robe royal blue in color with gold lace lining the edges of the light blue clothes inside. It was, however, sullied and dirtied.

Quest's eyes travelled his body, until his line of sight reached his hands. His eyes widened at what he saw.

They were frail and soft, and certainly not big enough to be his.

Quest was completely puzzled and shocked.

Was he- in a different body?

The thief wanted to touch his face to confirm but the shackles did not allow him to, he was just stuck there drowning in his own thoughts full countless of questions with not even one answer.

Eventually he looked down, he still had that sinking feeling in his chest that he was sure wasn't his, but to whoever this body he was in.

Quest saw a few strands of hair fall forward over his shoulder, it was long strawberry blonde hair. This only confirmed his running belief that this body wasn't his, because Quest Lawless had medium-length dark brown hair, which was the furthest thing from strawberry blonde.

But even though he knew that the body wasn't his, what could he do? Quest didn't see anyway to escape the chains that bound him to the wall, especially since this body he was in was annoyingly weak.

Whose is it anyway?  Quest asked himself. Could it be the Euphony's?

No, for a brief moment I saw the Euphony- he had light brown hair.

Who is this then?

Quest let out an agitated sigh, he was aggravated at the fact that he could only sit and sulk around until something happens as he was unable to act on his own.

That's exactly what he did, he waited and waited, the sounds of swords clashing from above ground still ensued but gradually became weaker and weaker.

Quest was dead tired, or rather the body he was in was, it felt like he was going to pass out at any second. The thief couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Figured that he might be forever chained up and trapped in a different body.

Until finally-

"Riel!" A voice called and suddenly a light flickered at the end of the tunnel.

So this person I'm in is named Riel. Quest kept in mind. Can't say it rings any bells.

A man in familiar white robes with silver lacing came running, holding two swords on both of his hands.

He knelt infront of "Quest", his face full of worry and uneasiness and his breathing ragged like he just came back from a raging battle.

When Quest saw the man's face, he furrowed his eyebrows a little- it was familiar, like he'd seen that face somewhere else before but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

A double-wielder, Quest thought as he glanced at the two sharp swords the man was holding. Wasn't that calm young cultivator a double-wielder as well-

Wait- THAT'S IT!

Quest finally figured out who the man shared features with, it was Nevaeh, the smart young cultivator in white from earlier.

"Riel- are you hurt?" The man asked, putting his hands on the chain and slightly tugging, trying to inspect it.

Suddenly, Quest felt icy liquid roll down his cheeks, or rather, Riel's cheeks. Quest couldn't control the tears flowing out while the man took notice, he had a concerned look on his face.

"Hey- don't- wait, I'll free you." The man stood up and took a few steps backward, raising his two swords, ready to cut through the demonic chains.

"S-Skylar..." Riel called out in a weak voice. Quest couldn't control what the body he was in was saying, not only was he not in his own body, he was trapped in someone else's that he had no complete control over.

It was like he was watching a play, except he saw through actor's eyes.

"Skylar-!" Riel called once again, this time with a little more force. The man in white robes looked at him in return.

"Wait, don't move." The man, Skylar, cautioned but Riel just leaned forward stopping Skylar from cutting off the chains.

"West- where's West?" Riel sobbed, Skylar looked at him and looked down- trying to think of an answer.

West? Quest asked himself. I could've sworn I've heard that name before.

"Please... Sky- w-where is he?" Riel's voice started cracking.

Quest felt pain, he felt like he was being mercilessly stabbed in the heart. He didn't even know anything about the situation or whatever was happening at the moment- all he knew that it was agonizing for Riel. Quest felt Riel's feelings, after all.

"Riel- I-" Skylar stammered, struggling to find the right words.

Riel wouldn't stop crying, the salty tears kept running down his face. Quest couldn't help but share the anguish Riel was experiencing.

"Please- please tell me he's safe- PLEASE-" Before Riel could finish his sentence, he started coughing until warm crimson liquid came running down his mouth. Even Quest was surprised, was this Riel person that beaten- that he'd cough up blood?

Quest suddenly felt a pinch of sadness, this Riel didn't seem like a bad person at all. Especially since he was also experiencing what Riel was feeling, it seemed that he was an innocent person unfairly suffering-

and that hit home with Quest.

"Riel!" Skylar rushed and pulled up his swords once again, he put one above the other and hammered down like how you would with a nail, after a few hits the chain eventually shattered.

The white robed man repeated the same process on the other chains carefully as to not hit Riel while he was slumped over.

"Sky... he's fine- right?" Riel asks in between his deep breaths. After Skylar had freed him, he was still on his knees- only this time his hands were on the ground, as if trying to keep himself from toppling over.

"Right?" Riel looked up at Skylar, who in turn looked away, avoiding Riel's gaze.

"Please... please just answer me." Riel was once again choking back another batch of sobs. Tears ran down his face once again, mixing with the leftover blood near Riel's mouth as it fell.

Quest was overwhelemed by the sheer amount of misery and anguish Riel was in, it was comparable to what he felt in the past- maybe even more.

"Riel- I'm-" The white robed man talked in a deep sorrowful tone.

"I'm sorry."

"No." Those last two words Skylar said were Riel's breaking point.

Quest could almost hear his heart shatter.

"No- no way- I-I- You're- you're lying-" Riel mumbled in between his sobs.

"Skylar- tell me- TELL ME YOU'RE LYING!" Riel cried, Skylar just watched as the person beside him started bawling.

"Riel- I'm so sorry, I kno-" Skylar tried his best to calm Riel down, though deep inside he knew that it was impossible.

Even though Quest had no idea as to what was the scene unravelling to him right now, he still understood. What he- what Riel was experiencing and feeling right now was an inescapable severe heartbreak.

Quest would know.

"He can't be- Sky- West c-can't be-"

Riel's crying and sobbing slowly drifted away.

Quest's field of vision was once closing in on itself, eventually reaching the middle point where everything returned to black.

Quest had no idea what was happening, and in his mind were still countless of questions that still he had no answer to.